04 Jun
2018
TenCount for June 4th, 2018
- The summit before the summit(s): President Trump is scheduled to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the White House on Wednesday, and Topic A on the agenda is likely to be the president’s (for now) on-again June 12 meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Though the White House said Japan and the U.S. have a “shared imperative” to rid North Korea of its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, Trump said Friday, “I never said it goes in one meeting. I think it’s going to be a process.”
- The whipsaw of cancellation and reinstatement of the US-DPRK summit has think tanks thoroughly confused. On Monday, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies hosts “North Korea’s Smile Diplomacy: Breakthrough or Deja Vu?” On Tuesday, the Heritage Foundation asks “U.S.-North Korea Summit: Cancelled or Postponed?” Thursday, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy looks at “North Korea in the Middle East: A Dangerous Military Supply Line,” and on Friday the Center for Strategic and International Studies holds a press briefing and preview of the (proposed) summit.
- Before turning their eyes to the North Korea summit, many diplomatic types and trade specialists will be looking to La Malbaie, Quebec, and the Group of Seven Summit that begins there Friday. Trade is bound to take center stage: President Trump had already placed steep tariffs on Japanese steel and aluminum when, on Friday, he announced that Canada, Mexico and the European Union would be subject to similar levies. Those countries quickly retaliated with tariffs on U.S. goods. On Monday, CSIS hosts a preview of the G7 summit.
- Tuesday is another Primary Day, this time in eight – count ‘em – states. The line-up: Alabama, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota. Among the more interesting races are a fiercely fought battle for governor in California, where an open-primary system means the top two candidates will qualify for a runoff, regardless of party. The system has some Democrats fearing that large fields of Democrats in some congressional races will so splinter the vote that two Republicans could capture the most votes and leave the November ballot without a Democratic candidate in some districts.
- Two of President Trump’s most high-profile cabinet secretaries will be in public action on Wednesday. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the Federal Commission on School Safety will host a public listening session to gather information about how to improve the likelihood that kids won’t get shot at school. The session will be telecast on YouTube. And HHS Secretary Alex Azar will appear before the House Education and Workforce Committee, which is “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.”
- Weeks after President Trump claimed the U.S. would step away from the Iran nuclear deal, the decision continues to reverberate. Iran’s foreign minister on Sunday urged the remaining five signatories to the deal – France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China – to resist the U.S.’s “bullying methods.” The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is unlikely to listen; its hearing on Wednesday is titled “Protecting America From a Bad Deal.” On Tuesday, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy will hear a different view, hosting “The Gulf’s View on Washington’s Plan B for Iran.”
- It’s difficult to understand the trouble Social Security is in until you see someone trying to live off of it – then the question of the system’s solvency comes into clear focus. On Thursday, a House Ways and Means subcommittee will begin “Examining Social Security’s Solvency Challenge: The Status of Social Security’s Trust Funds.” The hearing will consider the 2018 Trustees’ Report on the system, which also will be the subject of a Bipartisan Policy Center conference call Wednesday.
- “We’ve updated our privacy policy” – No, not us, but just about everyone else has in recent weeks. Behind the rash of updates is the General Data Protection Regulation, a new law that went into effect last month in the European Union. It requires any company doing business there to comply with a strict new set of rules on how individuals can control their online personal data. On Friday, the Rand Corporation will conduct a congressional briefing, “Protecting Consumer Data: Considerations for Congress.” Registration is restricted to congressional staffers, but video will be posted following the meeting.
- The 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force seems to have given U.S. presidents the right to wage war whenever and wherever they want – a duty that is reserved for Congress in the United States Constitution. But Congress has been reluctant to rein in the use of the measure. A Senate Homeland Security subcommittee will tiptoe around the subject on Wednesday with a hearing on “War Powers and the Effects of Unauthorized Military Engagements on Federal Spending.”
- Oh, we almost forgot: What’s transpiring with the special counsel’s investigation? Plenty. President Trump’s lawyers have asserted in a 20-page letter to Special Counsel Robert Mueller that the president cannot be compelled to answer questions about whether or not he obstructed justice because he has unfettered authority over all federal investigations. Meanwhile, Trump lawyer Rudolph Giuliani said Sunday that if the president were charged, he could probably pardon himself.